The Rise of Skywalker makes Star Wars history with first on-screen gay kiss - digitalspy.com

Note: contains mild spoilers for Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker had a lot to accomplish and only 2 hours and 21 minutes to do it. Many critics and fans alike could feel the squeeze – overstuffed was an often-used metaphor in the initial reactions.

One thing JJ Abrams found time to fit in, however, was a welcome record-breaker: the first on-screen gay kiss in Star Wars (hell, he beat Marvel movies to the punch, too).

But hold onto your confetti, 'cause it's not all rainbows from here on out.

Disney

The kiss is shared between two peripheral Resistance women during an otherwise busy scene. It is both unimportant to the movie and drawn attention to by the cinematography, leaving us wondering what exactly the point was.

Unlike the Russo brothers, JJ Abrams hedged all of our bets against a major moment of representation for LGBTQ+ folks. He cryptically danced around the outright question by saying: "In the case of the LGBTQ+ community, it was important to me that people who go to see this movie feel that they're being represented in the film. I will say I'm giving away nothing about what happens in the movie. But I did just say what I just said."

Getty Images

By choosing to approach representation with action instead of dialogue, Abrams did successfully achieve one thing, which is good. But you can both appreciate the moment for what it was and also critique it for the context in which it lives.

It's impossible to separate Star Wars movies from the conversation that surrounds them (like Joker and mental health, or Endgame and feminism). Heading into The Rise of Skywalker, the conversation became about LGBTQ+ representation and the relationship between Finn and Poe.

Abrams' flat out denied that the pair had a romantic connection, despite the very stars voicing their support for the 'ship' (referred to as Stormpilot in various corners of the Internet). He opted instead to give the sole explicitly LGBTQ+ relationship to two women whose names were never uttered in The Rise of Skywalker.

Disney

Does this outright negate Poe and Finn being romantically involved or either of them falling somewhere other than 100% hetero on the sexualityometer? (Yep, it's a word, we just invented it.) No it doesn't, but couple it with another choice and it begins to seem so.

The introduction of Zorri Bliss was (sorry Keri) almost wholly unnecessary. Russell's expertly crafted deadpan staunchness was wasted behind a mask and given only a few minutes of screen time – in which she and Poe discuss their shared past.

That Zorri and Poe had a past was never a secret, and Poe's flirtatious nature is in full force with Zorri (much like it is – though more ambiguously – with Finn). But because Zorri is a woman the movie effectively delineates between romantic (Poe-Zorri) and platonic (Poe-Finn) relationships.

Lucasfilm LtdDisney

As Poe actor Oscar Isaac has said, ambiguity (which Poe is full of) allows more people to see themselves in the characters. The problem is that ambiguity is most often used in the depiction of gay relationships.

You don't have to infer Poe and Zorri's past – it's made clear in words and action. It also, unfortunately, has nothing to do with the plot, and there isn't enough time for detailed character work to make their relationship feel important.

It also bears mentioning that in The Rise of Skywalker, Finn meets Jannah (Naomi Ackie) with whom he shares an instantaneously deep connection (for what reasons we won't divulge) that also delineates his relationships as friendship vs romance (eliciting a sense of deja vu for of his time with Rose in The Last Jedi).

Disney

That JJ Abrams then chose to also explicitly include a peripheral lesbian couple feels like a feeble attempt to placate the audience hungry for this kind of representation in a major on-screen relationship we are already deeply invested in.

If Abrams' point was that LGBTQ+ people exist throughout the galaxy and therefore it doesn't need a special mention, then fine. But bring us to those places, show us those people. Allow them to be part of the world-building that is intrinsic to Star Wars.

On the other hand, if Abrams is trying to make a statement by including an explicitly LGBTQ+ moment, then make that statement by also giving that moment to a major character that we know, that we care about. Don't pull that last punch out of fear of, as Oscar Isaac said, "I don’t know what."

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has a release date of Thursday, December 19 in the UK and Friday, December 20 in the US.

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